Home   Forum   Wiki   Notes   Register   FAQ   Sitemap   About Us   Contact Us  

The bitter truth about DEVA?

Topic started by Observer (@ spider-wc044.proxy.aol.com) on Mon Sep 28 20:54:53 EDT 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

DEVA has been making quite some waves (as against VS making quiet waves!) in TFM today. I am just back from india where i found how DEVA pulls masses and holds them with his reluctantly acceptable melodies.
When i spoke to my brother-in-law , (who is not so much addicted to TFM) he said DEVA is known copier. Even a kid who services tea to the bench-sitters in a tea shop readily quipped ' Deva-VA, Avar nalla copy adipar sir '. But the same kid goes dancing for 'Kothaval savadi lady nee koyambedu vadi ' from the film ' kannethire thondrinal'. When saw this film in a theater in trichy, the whole auditorium was shaking with people's whistles and dances for the song. Whether the mass support(!) for DEVA exists or not, he certainly makes them enjoy his tunes.
And to add to this truth, me being an objective lover of TFM( or any Music for that matter!), happen to record songs from some recent Tamil Movies on a CD from a recording shop. Believe it or not, 4 out of 5 songs i liked were songs composed by DEVA! The songs were from the following films,
1. Piriyamudan( bharathikku kannamma , poojavaa poojavaa )
2. Natpukkaga(garuda garuda, meesakara nanba)
3. Dharma(iru kangal pothathu)
4. Poonthottam(vanathu tharagayo)
5. kannethire thondrinal( chinna chinna, kanave kalaiyathe, easwara)

I could not be subjective, by ignoring DEVA songs for his so called plagiarism, for that I liked the melodies (Oh NO! , NOT the song 'kothaval savadi..') in the collections. Bharathikku kannamma, garuda garuda, chinna chinna kuyile all may sound like recycled stuff, and poojavaa is a copy from Gupt. But my mind (i.e conscience) readily accepts the melodies and i can not desist from humming the tunes. kanave kalaiyathe(i am not sure if this a recyle or copy) is an excellent tune. Though one may say he lifts tunes , i want to ask him(her) does that fact makes the song less popular, less molodious? Or does it make one feel like listening to the same song over and over? what kind of negative impact does it have on TFM lovers who have a genuine objective taste of songs? What is your school of thought got to say?

---

Responses:

• From: vijay (@ 129.252.22.246) on: Mon Sep 28 21:44:26 EDT 1998
  
  observer,
  i was also in india, trichy recently. where are u based in trichy?iam from srirangam. deva observes the trend and lifts accordingly. really talented!!! there was a special column in hindu by d.s.ramanujam titled 'lilting tunes' or whatever featuring our deva! ellam avar time!
  
  hindu'la special column podara alavukku vandutaar.
  
  
• From: Srikanth (@ slip-32-101-16-65.il.us.ibm.net) on: Mon Sep 28 21:52:50 EDT 1998
  
  It all his time, there are better original composers still without right chance to prove thier skill.
  
  "Ena Katha sonalum" - I CANNOT accept DEVA as a musician.
  
  Srikanth
  
  
• From: Gokul (@ atlanta-dnzpb-038.ga.compuserve.net) on: Mon Sep 28 22:40:23 EDT 1998
  
  Vijay,
  
  I have lived in Srirangam for about 4-5 Years .
  I would love to call myself a native of Srirangam tho.:-) Can you send me a mail?
  
  Others: Sorry For the Digression.
  
  
  
• From: aruvi (@ spc-isp-tor-uas-76-10.sprint.ca) on: Mon Sep 28 22:55:12 EDT 1998
  
  The songs from Dharma and Poonthotam are not composed by Deva. They are Illayaraja's films.
  
  
• From: Oberver_Of_Oberservers (@ horus.erlm.siemens.de) on: Tue Sep 29 00:06:40 EDT 1998
  
  Oberserver, u r very correct..
  He is lifting, he is copying, he is dubbing..
  But the fact is his cassttes are selling like a hot cake and he certainly attracted masses! My friend frm North India prefers to buy 'nErukku nEr' after ARR albums! He says it sounds good! There are people who really doesnt bother whether its a lift are not; Deva is easily satisfying with a lifted> class! [A rickshaw waalaa or a porter doesnt care whether its a lift or not!]. And frankly, I usually dont listen to western albums, and I find Deva to far better than IR, at times!!!!
  
  
• From: shankar (@ webgate0.mot.com) on: Tue Sep 29 00:37:54 EDT 1998
  
  Observer,
  I'm from trichy too!!
  I stay in thyagarajanagar. R U from ERHSS.I am.
  How about U Vijay.
  
  Sorry for the digression guys.
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ socks13d.raleigh.ibm.com) on: Tue Sep 29 11:42:11 EDT 1998
  
  To all Observers:
  I don't know how much of a difference my opinion will make, but to who ever is listening - people who live like Deva (off the creativity of others) only contribute in bringing down the quality of life in general. Remember, 'fans' like you are voluntarily choosing (a redundancy, I know) them. One day you will find that you chose indiscriminately once too often - don't complain - you will then be left with no more choices.
  
  Stop now, before it's too late. Accept your responsibilities and execute them with sincerity. You are probably wondering, "It's after all music - does it have to be such a serious choice? Can't I just have fun for the sake of having fun ?". But remember, if this is how you choose to be happy (without giving serious thought to the quality of the source of your happiness, and thus the quality of your happiness itself), the loss will be entirely yours.
  
  BAN DEVA ! Refuse to listen to his songs. Mail the editors of those publications (namely, "The Hindu") and let them know that you have exercised your mental abilities and have decided that you shall NOT take the easy way out. Don't buy his cassettes - make caustic remarks everytime someone praises Deva - let everyone around you know that you are taking the trouble to choose with discretion.
  
  Fellow DFers - it is not just Deva or Sirpi or ARR. It is every little decision that we make every single day of our lives. It is not about worrying about the result - it is the act of living well, thinking well...doing well. Thdeisions too forms part of your lives. That is why they ar eso important. Think if the choice you have made was made wisely - was it not made in haste ? Was it not made with the sole intention of a few moments of pleasure ? Will that pleasure last for long ? Is it going to affect your life in anyway ? It is going to be a moment in your life that you've truly lived? Is it going to become a part of your character? If yes, is it worthy of being a part of your character? Everywhere in the world we see people who have taken the easy way out. Fortunately for us someone, either our parents/friends/relatives or even ourselves, has taken a wise decision and that is the reason why we are here today. Do not compromise on that lead. Take the ball one yard further. When you hand over this world to the next generation, it must be that much more advanced than it was when you received it. If you decide to just enjoy the benefits without playing your rightful role in society, the world you hand over will only be poorer for what you have taken from it. The refined taste of MSV's fans gave us IR. The enthusiasm and innovativeness of IR's fans gave us ARR. The easy-come-easy-go attitude of ARR's fans have given us Deva. The empty-headedness of Deva's fans...? The impending disaster is incomprehensible.
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.22.246) on: Tue Sep 29 12:43:48 EDT 1998
  
  to add to srinath's thoughtful posting
  
  don't ever believe what D.S.Ramanujam writes in hindu. he once wrote that deva had tuned all pleasant nos. in annamalai. many bought the cassette only to get pi$$ed off with songs like
  'vandenda paalkaaran' etc. even Avikatan has become less critical nowadays and i find their reviews disappointing.
  
  the statement given by observer in the first posting reflects the helplessness of the tamilnadu people as such. they are being forced to listen to mediocre stuff and soon what happens... they start liking it! even if deva brings out a 1000 albums like aasai, i will never change my opinion about him. first impression is always the best and i have got enough impressions about deva to say that he has brought down the standard of TFM badly.
  
  he has copied from gupt which makes me fume.
  earlier HFM guys used to lift tunes from down south. deva is starting to reverse the trend.
  the directors and producers are to share a large part of the blame. people like k.s.ravikumar, pavithran, and most of the new directors have very little taste or interest in music.
  
  i did not imagine that even KB would stoop so low to go after deva in kalki. shows that times are changing. music is taking a firm backseat in films. more emphasis on storyline, treatment etc.
  about BGM, it willl live and die with raaja.
  
  i heard that ARR has made a mess of the BGM in uyire. deva never cared about BGM.
  
  finally iam sincerely hoping that vidyasagar would take deva's place in TFM and drive all the mediocre MD's out of their business. what he needs is a couple of big banner films. a single rajnikanth film is enough to put all the other MD's out of business for a while. he is an able successor to raaja and others in the years to come by.
  
  
• From: Nirupama (@ mut-53-0630.direct.ca) on: Tue Sep 29 16:00:31 EDT 1998
  
  If there is anybody in TFM whom I would love to hate passionately, has to be our dear DEVA! To me the word, "composing" spells "originality" more than anything. When Deva started out working in the early 90s, I thought he just wants to establish himself a place in the TFM by imitating/lifting a few tunes of IR. Only now I realize that he does not know how to compose at all and his only survival technique is to use other MDs' works. Deva is simply a disgrace to this whole industry, and I simply can't stand it when people talk about him and the other MDs in the same breath.
  
  Srinath, so it's not just me who feels this way about Deva! I have in fact tried to follow some of the things that you have mentioned in your posting. I usually get into very long arguments over Deva and his works with people who listen to TFM and have tried my best to discourage them from listening to his stuff. Now, this is one argument that I always win at the end:-)) I have certainly banned him off my radio show, except for some occasional requests from the listeners (yeah, I do get requests for Deva once in a while!). More than that, I make it a point to bring him down or expose his inabilities to the listeners as much as possible. Some people say that I'm going to face a law suit from Deva very soon:-)) Law suit from Deva?? Well, even if that happens, I'm ready to face that as wel!!
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ socks10d.raleigh.ibm.com) on: Tue Sep 29 16:41:13 EDT 1998
  
  Nirupama:
  We ought to bring a lawsuit against Deva for devilishly distressing discerning disciples of music and desecrating it with his disturbing, disgusting, demented, diabolic, degenerate, derogatory, defunct, demonic, disillusioning, dead, drab, discordant, derelict, dysfunctional, damp, decaying and decadent attitude towards music and acting as a catalyst for the destruction of TFM ;-)
  ....and D for Deva....
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.27.23) on: Tue Sep 29 17:13:04 EDT 1998
  
  who is doing the post-mortem for deva? :-(
  
  

---

List all pages of this thread

Post comments